Biggest DDoS Attack on Record Hits Github

UPDATE 3/5/18: The DDoS attack on Github also included a ransom note. Scribbled in the attack payload was a message, demanding that Github send 50 Monero coins ($18,000) to a digital wallet, according to Akamai.

The DDoS attack on Github also included a ransom note. Scribbled in the attack payload was a message, demanding that Github send 50 Monero coins ($18,000) to a digital wallet,

The attackers are using the same technique on other targets. However, Akamai is advising that victims refrain from paying the ransom. ” If a victim were to deposit the requested amount into the wallet, we doubt the attackers would even know which victim the payment originated from,” the company said.

The attackers are using the same technique on other targets. However, Akamai is advising that victims refrain from paying the ransom. “

If a victim were to deposit the requested amount into the wallet, we doubt the attackers would even know which victim the payment originated from,” the company said.

A new way to amplify distributed denial-of-service attacks hit Github hard on Wednesday. The ensuing DDoS attack generated a flood of internet traffic that peaked at 1.35 Terabits per second, making it the largest on record.

Fortunately, the software development site survived the disruption and was only down for few minutes, Github said on Thursday. Akamai, a DDoS protection provider, managed to fend off the assault.

Fortunately, the software development site survived the disruption and was only down for few minutes, Github

The bad news? The Github attack may be a sign of things to come, as the IT infrastructure that powered Wednesday’s assault is apparently ripe for abuse. “It is highly likely that this record attack will not be the biggest for long,” Akamai warned in a blog post .

The bad news? The Github attack may be a sign of things to come, as the IT infrastructure that powered Wednesday’s assault is apparently ripe for abuse. “It is highly likely that this record attack will not be the biggest for long,” Akamai warned in a

The last time the world saw a 1 Terabit DDoS attack was in 2016. The Mirai botnet, an army of infected computers, bombarded a cloud provider in France with 1.1 Tbps in traffic after infecting tens of thousands of vulnerable IoT devices.

The last time the world saw a 1 Terabit DDoS attack was in 2016. The Mirai botnet, an army of infected computers,

Wednesday’s attack on Github did not rely on any botnet; it leveraged what’s known as a “memcached server,” which is usually hooked up to a data center. As the name suggests, these servers are designed to cache data and speed up web applications and internet sites. Unfortunately, this same technology can amplify a packet of data traffic by up to 51,000 times, according to Cloudflare, another DDoS protection provider.

Wednesday’s attack on Github did not rely on any botnet; it leveraged what’s known as a “memcached server,” which is usually hooked up to a data center. As the name suggests, these servers are designed to cache data and speed up web applications and internet sites. Unfortunately, this same technology can amplify a packet of data traffic by up to 51,000 times,

For example, sending a 203 byte request to a memcached server can result in a 100 megabyte response. Now imagine that response bombarding an actual website. This can be done when a memcached server spoofs the IP address of a target website, like Github .

For example, sending a 203 byte request to a memcached server can result in a 100 megabyte response. Now imagine that response bombarding an actual website.

“Launching such an attack is easy,” Cloudflare said. “First the attacker implants a large payload on an exposed memcached server. Then, the attacker spoofs the ‘get’ request message with target source IP.”

The flood of internet traffic will overwhelm the target website, taking it offline. Making matters worse is that many of these memcached servers are running on the open internet. Akamai has noticed over 50,000 vulnerable systems across the globe–making them potential assets hackers can use in DDoS attack schemes.

Chinese security researchers warned about this potential threat in November. In the past week, Cloudflare and Akamai have spotted a wave attacks powered by the memcached servers, but the GitHub assault appears to be the largest so far. To stop the abuse, DDoS providers like Cloudflare are urging the owners of memcached servers to firewall them or disable part of their functionality.

about this potential threat in November. In the past week, Cloudflare and Akamai have spotted a wave attacks powered by the memcached servers, but the GitHub assault appears to be the largest so far. To stop the abuse, DDoS providers like Cloudflare are urging the owners of memcached servers to firewall them or disable part of their functionality.

See Also : Security | ZDNet

Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2007 came in dead last in our CNET antispyware testing. Ad-Aware failed to detect half of the test spyware, and unlike nine out of the 10 other antispyware apps we reviewed in December 2007, left behind traces for all but one spyware.

January 10, 2008

by
Robert Vamosi in Security

See Also : Dark Reading | Security | Protect The Business

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